By Luisa Cabal and Lilian Sepúlveda

03.21.11 - For all of President Barack Obama’s pledges that he stands for
universal human rights, the fundamental rights of women are likely to
be left off the table when he visits leaders in Latin America this
week. Indeed, Obama’s swing south includes stops to Brazil, Chile and
El Salvador – countries whose governments have failed to fully address
women's health, equality and empowerment as priority policy issues.
Despite these countries’ political and economic accomplishments, the
sad fact is too many women in the region continue to be discriminated
against, abused, and victimized by violence, because they are living
in societies that fail to fully respect women's human rights.

Brazil is hailed as a leader and symbol of economic development, and
yet the country is plagued with stark gender and racial inequalities.
A strong economy has helped Brazil to make great strides in reducing
HIV transmission, poverty, and infant deaths, but the government has
virtually ignored the disparities in the high numbers of women dying
from pregnancy-related causes in the country. According to the World
Bank, Brazil’s maternal mortality ratio is 3 to 10 times higher than
countries with comparable economic status. Quality public and private
healthcare services are concentrated in wealthier states creating a
system that discriminates against poor, indigenous and Afro-Brazilian
women.

According to Brazil’s own health ministry, women of African descent
are 50 percent more likely to die of obstetric-related causes than
white women. That’s in large part because these communities receive less
information about pregnancy, delivery and post-natal care of
children, including signs of labor, importance of early breastfeeding
and importance of prenatal examinations. The Brazilian government has
acknowledged that 90 percent of maternal deaths in the country could
be prevented, but is still not doing enough. The Center for
Reproductive Rights is currently representing an Afro-Brazilian mother
whose pregnant daughter died after a state clinic and hospital
misdiagnosed her symptoms and denied her timely care. Her death was
entirely preventable, but Brazil has failed to prioritize maternal
mortality.

Chile, which has been a poster child for political moderation,
democratic progress and good governance since the transition from the
Pinochet dictatorship in 1990, continues to promote traditional
patriarchal views on family life and gender relations that contradict
the very notion of women fulfilling their human rights. For example,
in 2004 Chile became the last country in the Western Hemisphere to
legalize divorce. Still, women’s reproductive autonomy is extremely
limited. Abortion is illegal under any circumstance in Chile, even in
cases of rape or when a pregnant woman’s life is in danger. And for
the past decade, U.N. human rights committees have recommended that
Chile loosen its abortion ban in order to comply with its human rights
obligations, but the government has refused.

Similarly, since 1998 El Salvador, the last stop on President
Obama’s trip, has criminalized abortion on all grounds. El Salvador’s
restrictive abortion law contributes to its high maternal mortality
ratio, more than twice the average in Latin America. The government
vigilantly enforces the ban, prosecuting women who have had abortions
as murderers. Reportedly, women who have miscarried have been
prosecuted as well. An example is the story of Marina, who had a
miscarriage and in 2008 was condemned to 30 years in prison. While in
prison she was diagnosed with cancer, and died a year ago without
having access to any medical treatment.

Women should not have to go through this pain, suffering and death.
A woman’s ability to make decisions about whether and when to have
children and to access quality reproductive health services cut to the
core of her basic well-being and place in the world. History shows
that when women and girls are healthy and have access to opportunity,
societies are more just, economies are more likely to prosper, and
governments are more likely to serve the needs of all their people.

The President has been a powerful voice for human rights, but he must
remember that countless women in Latin America continue to be robbed
of opportunities and freedom.